The Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the Trump administration for information involving the security clearances granted to Hillary Clinton and her former State Department aides Thursday as concerns linger surrounding their handling of classified information.
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa wrote Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday seeking details on the clearances given by the Obama administration to Mrs. Clinton and her advisors during their stint at the State Department.
Mr. Grassley said the Judiciary Committee recently learned that six of Mrs. Clinton’s aides maintained their clearances after their State Department jobs had ended, rekindling concerns related to the former secretary of state’s use of a private email server while in office.
The director of the FBI has concluded that Mrs. Clinton and her staff were “extremely careless” by using a private email server for government business, and that “there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information,” Mr. Grassley noted.
Consequently, Mr. Grassley added, its important to know whether any of Mrs. Clinton’s former State Department staffers have maintained an active security clearance notwithstanding concerns raised by the FBI and others following revelations involving the private email server.
“Any other government workers who engaged in such serious offenses would, at a minimum, have their clearances suspended pending an investigation. The failure to do so has given the public the impression that Secretary Clinton and her associates received special treatment,” Mr. Grassley wrote in the letter.
“It is unclear what steps the State Department has taken to impose administrative sanctions,” Mr. Grassley continued, even though FBI Director James Comey having previously indicated that Mrs. Clinton and her staffers may be subject to disciplinary actions.
In addition to inquiring about the statuses of security clearances given to Mrs. Clinton and her former staffers, Mr. Grassley also asked the secretary of state in Thursday’s letter to explicitly answer whether he agrees with the FBI director’s previous assessment concerning Mrs. Clinton’s private email server.
Mr. Grassley expects a response from the State Department by April 13, according to Thursday’s letter. The seven-term senator said he previously asked the Obama administration repeatedly if Mrs. Clinton or her State Department staff had their security clearances terminated following her tenure in office, but claimed his requests failed to garner a response.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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